Players, coaches and executives from the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks were the toast of the sports world when they were honored by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony on Wednesday.

Running back Marshawn Lynch didn’t make the trip to the White House with his Seahawks teammates on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

However, there was one rather noticeable absence: notoriously media-shy running back Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch. According to his mother, avoiding the Washington media throng wasn’t the reason Lynch decided against making the trip.

Lynch has been reportedly mourning the death of a family member, but it’s unknown how much that played into his decision not to travel to Washington with his teammates. Lynch created headlines last season with his reluctance to talk to the media, at one point incurring a $50,000 fine from the NFL for refusal to meet with reporters. The fine was later rescinded.

President Obama referenced Lynch in his remarks Wednesday, saying: “I just want to say how much I admire his approach to the press. I wanted to get some tips from him.”

Delisa Lynch told Condotta she thought it was “really considerate” for the president to mention her son.

Baldwin contract update

Wide receiver Doug Baldwin told KJR-FM’s Mitch Levy on Thursday morning that contact talks between him and the team are ongoing.

The Hawks placed a second-round tender on Baldwin — a restricted free agent — on March 7, which would give him a one-year deal worth $2.187 million for the 2014 season. But there has been ongoing speculation that he and the club were working on a long-term deal that would keep the 25-year-old in Seattle past 2014.

Baldwin’s future with the Seahawks is far from a sure thing, especially given the two picks the franchise spent on receivers in the NFL draft earlier this month. But Baldwin assured Levy that he would not hold out for the 2014 season and would play under the terms of the one-year deal or a long-term contract.

Rookies sign

Tackle Justin Britt became the latest Seahawks rookie to sign his contract with the team, posting the news to his Instagram account Thursday afternoon:

Wide receiver Kevin Norwood, linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis and tackle Garrett Scott have yet to sign their contracts, but there should be little drama involved with those negotiations. The NFL’s most recent collective bargaining agreement includes slot-based salaries for rookies, which makes negotiating those deals a fairly routine exercise.

[Updated 6 p.m. The Hawks signed Scott on Thursday, leaving Norwood and Pierre-Louis as the only Seahawks rookies yet to sign with the team.]